How termites could become the key to mining gold

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Australian scientists have found high concentrations of gold in a place you’d probably never expect to find it — in a termite hill. The termites commonly found in Australia transport sediment from deep underground to the surface, which are used to construct towering mounds that house the colony. Researchers are now realizing these tiny insects are quite the gold prospectors as well.

Gold has been mined across the Australian Outback for years, but finding rich deposits is often painstaking and has a negative impact on the environment. Researchers have long known that precious metal-laced sediments are usually indicative of deposits deeper underground, but you still have to go out and collect the samples to check. Termites just happen to be great for collecting, and “processing” soil samples.

The insects studied in Australia are Tumulitermes tumuli, a species found in the western part of the country. When individual insects consume a sediment sample with significant amounts of metal, those particles are separated out and passed through the digestive system. Testing can then detect the elevated levels of gold deposited in the structure of the termite mound. The research team found samples in some termite colonies as high as 5,000 parts per billion, which is significantly above baselines.

This isn’t quite a viable way to retrieve gold from underground, but it gives us a much better idea about what areas are likely to have a worthwhile deposit of gold. That means less digging, and less interference with the landscape.